Thursday, January 13, 2011

Bible study & reading

I spent many years as a Christian thinking my Christian walk was a balance of 4 things: reading my Bible, worshipping God, prayer, & fellowshipping with other Christians.  That 4th one was never really very high on my list of importance, but I did feel it was somewhat important & I did feel strongly that the other 3 should be balanced out as much as possible. 

It always seemed like I could never keep them balanced.  I would go through phases where I would be worshipping God a lot & doing very little of the other 2.  And it would rotate around & the one that dominated would vary at times.  And yet I always felt discouraged thinking that was wrong.  Thinking that they needed to remain in balance.

Now I do still think those things are important.  But while we were fellowshipping at Harvest Christian Fellowship they kept going on & on about being in your Bible DAILY, every single day.  Every chance they got they'd be pushing that info on people.  It seemed to come from every angle.  And the more involved we got in the church the more we felt it coming at us.  Prior to that point I would regularly read my Bible at least twice a week, but it was usually more.  But their insistance on DAILY reading made me really ponder on the importance of Bible reading.

I am a book worm, have been for as long as I can remember.  So maybe I'm not one who needs someone shoving down my throat to read more.  But just because I don't need it doesn't mean that others don't also.  In this day & age flashy technology is always tempting people away from books it seems.  In the younger generation there is a universal opinion regarding reading as "boring" & "old-fashioned" & "outdated".  And more & more adults are following that path as they are overwhelmed with all the flashy technology.

Who has time to read the newspaper, or magazines?  Especially when you can get all the info online, or on TV?  Only a true book worm will seek out the old-fashioned print forms in this day & age it seems.

Being a book worm it makes me really sad to see people not enjoy books & not even give them enough time to discover what they're missing.  To me a book is sooo much better than any movie.  The only reason I enjoy watching a movie is because I get to sit & cuddle with my hubby while doing so.  About the only time I watch movies is if I'm sick & too de-energized to focus on reading.

So reading in general is an awesome thing that people are missing out on in my opinion.  But I suppose reading is still quite "optional" in life, unless of course you call yourself a Christian.  As a Christian you absolutely cannot not read your Bible.  And this is what I see in the younger generation.  People are forgetting God's Word.  How can God speak to them?  How can they call themselves a Christian if they don't even know what it means?  You can't just rely on what your pastor tells you or other people tell you. 

Of course I think this is precisely how satan wants things to be, but I think it's very sad & very very detrimental for those headed in that path. 

I will admit that while I was still working outside the home (working 12-13 hour shifts at a time) I was never able to fit in Bible reading on the days that I worked.  But I only worked 2-4 days per week.  I'm sure there was a way to do it, but I was never able to master it.  So I know it can be hard.  I'm not trying to judge anyone, especially someone who is trying as hard as I was back when I was still working outside the home.  But now that I am a SAHM I read my Bible every single day & read it to my toddler son also.  He will be taught the importance of God's word for sure.  Teaching him the importance of God's Word & creating in him a love & desire of God's Word is really a whole other blog topic, I don't want to stray too far off the topic here.

So reflecting back on what I used to think: yes, I still think worship, prayer, & fellowship are important, very important, but I think I would have to rank Bible reading as even more important.  If you can only do one of those four things, choose Bible reading is what I suggest. 

That's my rambling of the day.........

2 comments:

Danielle-Marie said...

When it comes to religion and spirituality I think it is something that is very personal for each individual. Everyone will view it a little differently than the last person. I consider myself to be Roman Catholic although many Catholics would consider me a non-practicing. All in all, I feel God has love for everyone, is all forgiving, and if we have faith in Him we can get through the most difficult of times. To me it is very important to pray to Him for strength when I am weak and to thank Him for my life when things are going great.

As for my children, it was very important to me to have them both baptized and so we did. As I do with anyone, I will respect whatever path they choose but I felt that I needed to give them a foundation to build beliefs on. I think it is wonderful that you and your son read the bible together.

One thing I really don't like is when a person tries to push their beliefs on me. I have respect for everyone's beliefs and I will listen to a person's ideals because I do find it fascinating. All I ask is that my own beliefs are respected in return.

Frau Guten Tag said...

Well I have to respectfully disagree somewhat. This sounds a lot like the people nowadays that want to just live by their own morals & decide on their own what is right & wrong, good & bad. They believe there are no absolutes in life, it's whatever is right to each person. The Bible clearly contradicts with this. Being respectful to others & their beliefs is fine in how you approach presenting the gospel to them, but if we read our Bibles (which was the whole point of this blog) we then know that we are commanded to share the gospel with everyone. We will be held accountable if we do not.

If we truly love God we will want to follow His commands & we should care about the eternity of others, not just being selfish & caring only about ourselves. And we should be willing to correct them lovingly.
*"Dear brothers & sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently & humbly help that person back onto the right path."--Gal 6:1
*"Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people's hearts, & they will learn the truth. Then they will come to their senses & escape from the devil's trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants."--2 Tim 25-26

As for "God having love for everyone", that's a touchy subject & there are clearly consequences for our actions. He will only forgive those who have repented of their sins.
*"We know that God doesn't listen to sinners, but he is ready to hear those who worship him & do his will."--John 9:31
*"However, if you do not listen to me or obey all these commands, & if you break my covenant by rejecting my decrees, treating my regulations with contempt, & refusing to obey my commands, I will punish you."--Lev 26:14-16a
*"Since they have treated the Lord's word with contempt & deliberately disobyed his command, they must be completely cut off & suffer the punishment for their guilt."--Num 15:31
*"When they cry for help, I will not answer. Though they anxiously search for me, they will not find me. For they hated knowledge & chose not to fear the Lord. They rejected my advice & paid no attention when I corrected them. Therefore, they must eat the bitter fruit of living their own way, choking on their own schemes."--Prov 1:28-31
*"Therefore, tell the people of Israel, This is what the sovereign Lord says: Repent & turn away from your idols, & stop all your detestable sins. I, the Lord, will answer all those, both Israelites & foreigners, who reject me & set up idols in their hearts & so fall into sin, & who then come to a prophet asking for my advice. I will turn against such people, & make a terrible example of them, eliminating them from among my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord."--Ezek 14:6-8
*"I, the Lord, have spoken! The time has come, & I won't hold back. I will not change my mind & I will have no pity on you. You will be judged on the basis of all your wicked actions, say the Sovereign Lord."--Ezek 24:14

There are many, many more scriptures I could include here, but it's already too long, these were the first to come to mind in regards to my response.